Canadian Brokerage Fees
Canadian Online Brokerage Commissions and Fees Review
The Cost of Services review explores the various commission structures, from 5 differnt monthly trade levels, offered to DIY investors to perform digital trades, obtain market information, and the general costs to manage a self-directed discount brokerage digital-based account.
The Latest Rankings
Making heads or tails of the various online brokerage commission structures is not an easy task, and not an exercise to be taken lightly. At first glance, commission and fees structures at various Online Brokerage firms appear to be straight-forward. There are a handful of firms who now offer, or irrefutably claim to, free commissions for investors. Some of these firms fail to let investors know that quotes and market data is limited and may be delayed and the advertising message from all of these firms is always about what they do for free but the reality, or plain truth is, there is always some kind of catch.
| Industry Rank | Brokerage Firm | Score | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desjardins Online Brokerage | 98% | $0 Stocks and ETF Commissions |
| 2 | National Bank Direct Brokerage | 96% | $0 Stocks and ETF Commissions |
| 3 | TD Direct Investing | 83% | 50 Free trades per year on base platform |
| 4 | Wealthsimple Trade | 76% | $0 Commissions - Limited Investments |
| T-5 | HSBC InvestDirect | 54% | $4.88 Active Investor Commission |
| T-5 | CIBC Investor's Edge | 54% | $4.95 Active Investor Commission |
| 7 | CI Direct Trading Formerly Virtual Brokers | 47% | Free ETF Buy Orders |
| 8 | Qtrade Direct Investing | 43% | Student receive reduced commissions |
| 9 | Scotia iTRADE | 39% | $4.99 Active Investor Commission |
| T-10 | RBC Direct Investing | 39% | Free Streaming Quotes |
| T-10 | BMO InvestorLine | 39% | High commissions for all profiles |
| 12 | Questrade | 37% | Competitive Foreign Exchange rates |
| 13 | CG Direct | 33% | Poor commission structures |
| 14 | Interactive Brokers Canada | 20% | Low commissions for Options investors |
| 15 | Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage | 17% | No reason to use LBDB |
Commissions and Fees Review - Experience Categories
The Commissions and Fees categories explore the various trades by instruments and account fees associated with the typical DIY investing experience, focusing on 5 different and unique profiles for each trade fee related to account usage. The catgeories are:
Stock Commissions
The category audits over 12,600 equity orders, including over 6300 CDN and 6300 US buy and sell orders, at various price and volume levels. ECN fees are applied where applicable.
ETF Commissions
Account Fees
Option Commissions
Market Data Costs
Account Interest
What we Measure and The Deep Dive that Differentiates.
Brokerage Firms We Review
Click on any of the firms for a complete review
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